Please keep A&E for just that; Accidents and Emergencies

[Happytodayhappytomorrow]

A&E and Urgent Care centres where I live are at crisis point and it is similar all over the country.

It seems that people are going to these places to ensure that they get seen in person, diagnosed and treated all in one go rather than have telephone or zoom appointments with their GPs and perhaps wait for referrals to specialists at the hospitals.

Please, don't be the person who goes to A&E when a trip to the chemist or a phone call with the doctor will suffice.

My local NHS team are racking their brains to put systems and procedures in place to ensure our A&E departments don't crash, as they are needed for some genuine cases.

Of course, if you have an accident or an emergency, you must go to the hospital but if you even think that a chemist might be able to help, please go to the chemist first.
Likewise, try your GP. You might be surprised how quickly you get attended to if your case is urgent.

TIA

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of your post @Happytodayhappytomorrow, it isn’t always realistic!

I had bad, unexplained abdominal pains a few days ago, which had I called my GP surgery, would have told me to call back at 8am etc. So instead I called 111 for advice, who in turn (after an assessment) told me to attend A&E.

I was glad I did because I was able to have gallstones and pancreatitis ruled out etc. I will contact my GP next week for a follow up if needed. Until GP surgeries sort themselves out, this is going to keep happening. Mine is useless since COVID and unfortunately I’ve had a lot of health issues that needed addressing during this time and their complacency has only served to further increase my stress and anxiety levels, which is having a negative impact on my already compromised health! 😣

Whilst I understand where you are coming from the evidence on mn is that many surgeries are not providing a complete, effective and timely service to their patients because of ongoing Covid restrictions. If there is no local minor injury unit and no gp available where do you go? I am sure that many a and e departments are well aware of what is causing their local problem and they should appeal to gp's as well as the public.

What I don't understand about this is, don't A&Es have a triage system? So people who don't need to be there are told as much when they arrive? They're not required to see everyone who walks through the door, right?

Apologies for not knowing, I've only been to A&E once in this country (and there was a triage nurse).

Maybe in the same way as many A&E depts have an adjacent 'minor injuries' type of unit, they also need to have some sort of specific diagnosis department to counter the shortcomings of many GP practices nowadays. Maybe some hospitals do already.

If GP practices were all working as they should, I can't imagine many would choose A&E.

Yup agree with pp's. We're really lucky - our gps are excellent, and have been throughout. We've family however who have to ring at 8, the line is invariably engaged, by the time you're through, no appointments left.

How is this acceptable? These GPs need sorting out, it really isn't ok.

I agree with previous comments. My dd was refused to be seen by a GP when I called. I phoned 111 who called the GP themselves and said she needed to be seen. The GP agreed with 111 then called me back to cancel saying it was unnecessary. 111 then sent us to a&e, who gave her the medical help she definitely needed, but did not constitute an emergency (would have turned into one if she was not treated)

How can we turn to other resources, when the resources won't help?

That’s great in theory but that’s not my experience of trying to get seen by a GP recently

I just feel so sad that the NHS is constantly in crisis and has been for absolutely years now. What is it going to take for politicians to supply the funding it needs?

The public always get the blame, and of course it's part of the problem but a lot of other things need to be fixed as well.

Hmm, what sort of system could they devise I wonder? Oh yes, NHS England could tell GP surgeries to stop providing a skeleton service, they could go back to being able to book appointments properly, request patients to take LFD tests ahead of scheduled appointments like maternity are doing.

Of course people shouldn’t abuse A&E, but this is a symptom of a wider issue, not an isolated problem.

What happened to walk in centres - I thought they were good. Staffed by nurses who could check you out and then advise next course of action.

My local NHS team are racking their brains to put systems and procedures in place to ensure our A&E departments don't crash

Are they missing the great big GP surgery sized elephant in the room?

I don’t know why our recent service was so good and others not

Dd in pain, 111 during night, four incoming calls later a GP appointment on a Saturday morning within the hour

But re op without that we may have sought A&E I guess so we were lucky, the process worked very well

@dreamingbohemian

What I don't understand about this is, don't A&Es have a triage system? So people who don't need to be there are told as much when they arrive? They're not required to see everyone who walks through the door, right?

Apologies for not knowing, I've only been to A&E once in this country (and there was a triage nurse).

Yes they do. My dd sprained her knee and she was triaged - they had to decide if she went to MI minor injuries or just get a physio appt later.

I agree that the way much of primary care is being run at the moment is a major contributor to increase in presentation at A&E.

Not being able to get through to your GP.

Only having 'on the day' phone appointments so that if you don't get through until they're all gone, you have to wait with no guarantee that you'll get an apt the next day.

Having to work the next day and knowing that you won't be able to answer the phone, hence why you called today.

Doing a job that means that you can't pick up the phone eg bus driver, teacher when the doctor calls.

Having spoken to GP and possibly been prescribed treatment, symptoms still there and you know that someone actually has to see them to diagnose properly.

Those with young children and babies. Who would be happy to wait another day to see if you could get an appointment for a baby with a fever or a child with a rash?

Being sent to A&E by 111 because so many symptoms can be symptomatic of both something minor and serious, and the whole picture can't be drawn out by the 111 script.

Which is why the triage system at A&E takes time.

This isn't abusing A&E. It's people who know that they need to see a doctor and this is the only way to at the moment.

Impossible to get a GP appointment where I am!

Quite. And then issues that could have been resolved quickly like an infection do become emergencies.

Why arent they being directed to a doctor at check in?

As in a GP i mean?

Why are they allowed to wait?

You should be lobbying the govt to at least double the number of A&E facilities. And also lobbying the govt for more GPs.

My friend is a GP, she works two and a half times her “official” hours every week. Most people can’t get an appointment with the GP round here. No wonder they go to A&E in desperation. Broken system.

A lot of GP surgeries are telling you to call 111 if they won’t see you. 111 then tells you to present at A&E.
This seems to be happening a lot particularly with young children where you need the reassurance face to face.
I don’t think you can generalise and say emergencies only - I mean the name is ACCIDENT and emergencies to begin with.

I appreciate your sentiment but who are you? A doctor, nurse, something else in the NHS?

I have found overzealous 111 staff the reason why I've ended up in A&E for myself or my children. Most of us don't want to go to A&E - it's a pain in the arse and takes hours and hours.

I have found overzealous 111 staff the reason why I've ended up in A&E

The call centre staff work to an algorithm, if they're telling you to go to A&E it's because that's what the computer has decided. They don't have any discretion to apply common sense, they have to stick to the script for liability reasons.

You can't get an appointment here, it was bad enough before Covid but now the doctor is like a prison facility.

Thank fuck I have a private go who can do my hayfever, asthma and reflux meds over the phone.

I went to a&e yesterday as my son has broken his arm. It was absolutely packed and queuing out of the door. I've honestly never seen it like that before.

Our local drs though are offering a very skeletal service. You have to ring at 8, by 8.05 all the appointments are gone and then you have to try again the next day and the next until you get better or get through. It must be so frustrating for the hospital staff to see people who would be better served by the gp if they could only get an appointment.

I need a fairly urgent blood test and the quickest appointment was four weeks away. Similar with my smear test, a six week wait for that too.